Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.20 Pinocchio
We all were still for a moment, almost as if in a trance, seeing the Opposite Armor floating on front of us. Then the wind blew, and suddenly we all snapped out of it. The Armor moved forward, and I yelled "Scatter!" We did, and immediately the Heartless looked from side to side, trying to decide which one of us to hit. "I don't get it. What happened?" Sora asked, casting fire and dodging a swipe from a claw. "The Heartless disguised itself as a Guard Armor, but when we beat it the monster showed its true form. It's really an Opposite Armor, which a lot stronger!" I explained, trying to use Brutal Blast but was sent back. "Gawrsh, then we have to beat it! Or it'll get through the Keyhole!" Goofy said, hitting it in the side with his shield.
"Right!" Donald said, and he cast a trio of Thunders. I followed it up with Triple Firaga, our combined attacks scorching the Armor's chest plate. It turned to us and kicked Donald with one of its feet, while the claws tried to again cut me. "Nice try. Barrier!" I said, and a crystalline wall of light appeared around me. The claws struck sparks and scrapped off, and I took the chance to use one of my more powerful techniques. "Ars Arcanum!" I called. My Keyblade glowed gold and I sprung forward, releasing seven massive hits in rapid succession. The Armor gathered all four of its limbs and launched them at all me, and I cut one of the legs clean in half. It groaned and moved back, looking at the fallen limb on the ground as it faded away into shadows.
"Yeah! Nice going, Dexal!" Sora said, and he let out Sonic Blade. He charged forward with almost blurring speed and cut at the Heartless's other foot. It turned and tried to swing at him, but Sora charged again and dodged, dealing another cut in the process. Then he stopped, the move having taken up too much of his magical energy. The Heartless took advantage of the distraction and kicked him from behind, sending Sora to the ground with his Jungle King spinning away. "Sora!" Goofy called, and tossed him a Potion. He hurriedly drank it and rolled out of the way of being stomped, and I called "Hey ugly!" The Armor turned to look at me, and I jumped into the air. "Magic Hour!" I said.
I dove down and slammed Stormfell against the Opposite Armor, creating a pillar of light that sent it hurdling back. It repeated the attack over and over, until finally the other foot was destroyed. "Hey, you can't have all the fun!" Donald mock-complained. I was surprised, but smiled and stepped back. "Help yourselves," I offered. Sora, Donald and Goofy all smiled, and ran at the Heartless. "Take this!" Sora said and he cast Blizzard. Before the ice shard could hit the monster though, Sora cut through it with his Keyblade and the length of it was covered in frost. "Froststrike!" Sora said, and he slashed at one of the Armor's claws. The Keyblade almost cut straight through, leaving it to be held together by a few inches of metal.
The Heartless groaned and looked at Sora, lowering its arms to the ground and moving forward, spinning them in a circle. Sora's eyes widened and eye began running, knowing that if he stood still he would be hit. "Not a chance!" Donald called, and he cast both Blizzard and Fire. The flame from the second spell melted the second, causing the Armor's arms to become doused in water. Then he cast Thunder, and the Opposite Armor learned the hard way that water and electricity simply do not mix. The fact that it was covered in metal armor didn't help either. The Heartless let out a high-pitched keening sound as it was electrocuted, and I smiled as I watch Donald's ingenuity.
Goofy ran up once the spell was over and held the edge of his shield, swing it around and nailing the Heartless in the side. The edge of the shield bit into its torso, and stuck in there like a bizarre extra arm. The beast laid its hands against the ground and was about to slap him away, but then Sora cast Blizzard and both hands and froze them to the ground. It let out a creak of surprise and looked down, trying to remove its arms and failing. "Say goodbye to those things!" Sora said, and he slammed his Keyblade down on each of them. They shattered like glass and each limb was destroyed, leaving the Opposite Armor with nothing but its head and torso. It realized that too, and fell back and pointed the bottom of its torso at us.
A ball of pure energy charged up, and as the others charged it fired. The orb hit the ground and exploded, sending Donald flying with his tail feathers. Goofy was blasted away next, landing on his back with the front of his shield covered in streaks of soot. I watched them and darted my head to Sora, wondering if I should intervene and help. But then it fired at him and he jumped, leaping over it and pointing his Keyblade at the Heartless. "You're done! Gravity!" he called. My eyes widened, and I saw as a sphere of black and purple energy appeared around the Armor before shrinking, drawing the torso and head into each other and crushing the metal like a compacter. Then Sora fell down through the air towards it, and he said "Take this!"
He slashed down and cut the Opposite Armor straight in half vertically, the two pieces falling away from each other and landing on the ground. They glowed white-blue for a second before a heart burst out of it, rising into the air and fading away, as did the body. I walked forward and helped Goofy up, casting Cura on both him and Donald. "Well, I will say this much: That was impressive. And didn't even need my help at the end," I said. Donald puffed out his chest and said "Of course!" while Goofy just laughed and Sora stepped towards the Keyhole. He pointed Jungle King at it, and stars gathered around the tip before a single beam fired forward. The Keyhole glowed before locking, and it faded away to leave behind a plain painting of butterflies.
"I must say Sora, you've gotten stronger. Strong enough for me to give you another spell to work with," I said. He looked at me and said "Really?" and I nodded. "Hold out your Keyblade," I ordered. He did, and I summoned Stormfell. I laid the tip of my Keyblade against the neck of his, and channeled my power through. "With the blade of key, I awaken within you a power that will bring you ever closer to becoming a true Keyblade Master! I awaken the power of the wind!" I called. A blast of air traveled along the length of my Keyblade and was absorbed by Sora's, which glowed for a moment before returning to normal. "Now you know the spell Aero. I do hope you can put it to good use," I said.
"Don't worry; I will," Sora promised. I nodded and smiled, looking at Donald and Goofy. "Well then, shall we go?" I asked. They both nodded, and we walked out of the Second District. We made our way back to the exit, but when we made a stop by the Accessory Shop I noticed a small wooden puppet lying in a corner. But when Jiminy jumped down and began talking to it, the puppet actually moved. "Well, as I live and breathe! If it isn't Pinocchio!" Jiminy said. The puppet sat up to reveal the face of a young boy, with a strangely long nose. "Oh, hi Jiminy!" Pinocchio said. "What in the world are you doing down here?" Jiminy asked. "Um… Playing hide-and-seek," he said, even though I knew it was a lie.
"I just don't believe it. And here I was, up all night, just worried sick about you. Why of all the- Pinocchio!" Jiminy said, and I looked to see Pinocchio's nose flashed bright before growing longer. "Pinocchio! Are you telling the truth?" Jiminy asked sternly. "Yes!" he replied, and his nose grew longer. Jiminy shook his head, and noticed a gummi block lying on the floor. "Then tell me, what is this?" he asked. "It was a present," Pinocchio told him. "No fibbing now! You know you're not supposed to tell lies. A lie only grows and grows, 'til you get caught! Plain as the nose on your face!" Jiminy lectured. "But if you want something, why wait? Why not just take it?" Pinocchio asked.
"Oh, my! Who told you that? You need some advice from your conscience!" Jiminy said, alarmed. "That's right! You're my conscience, Jiminy! I'll never tell a lie as long as you're around," Pinocchio promised. And just like that, his nose went back to normal size. "You need to be good so you can be a real boy. You promised Geppetto you would be, right?" Jiminy reminded him. "Oh! Do you know where Father is?" he asked, remembering. "He's not with you?" Jiminy asked. "Jiminy, let's go find Father!" Pinocchio requested. "Now, hold on! There are all sorts of dangers and temptations out there! I'll go find Geppetto, so you just wait here. These fellows will be helping me," Jiminy said, waving his arm at us. I blinked. "Wait, we will?" I asked.
As if he hadn't heard me, Jiminy turned and said "Well, shall we go?" "You could've asked us first…" Sora muttered, and I nodded in agreement. After we left Traverse Town we took the same route on the Gummi Ship that we had taken to reach Deep Jungle, but halfway we encountered a red swirling vortex with a yellow dot in the center that let out bolts of lightning. "Gawrsh, what do you think this is?" Goofy asked. "It may lead to another world. Now that Cid installed the navigation gummi, we can get through," I suggested. "In that case, full speed ahead!" Donald said, pointing at the vortex. Goofy nodded and gunned the engine, flying straight through.
Ahead of us, in Agrabah, Maleficent walked next to the tall man in robes from before. "And the Keyhole?" she asked. "The Heartless are searching for it. I'm certain they'll find it soon enough. So that just leaves…" the man said, before suddenly a bright red parrot squawked and flew down onto his shoulder. "Bad news, Jafar! Jasmine's gone! She's disappeared like magic!" the parrot said. Jafar grunted. "The girl is more trouble than she's worth," he said. Maleficent walked ahead and covered her face with her hand. "You said you had things under control," she reminded him. "Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in. But why worry about Jasmine? With her or without her, surely this world will be ours once we find the Keyhole," Jafar pointed out.
Maleficent turned away and lowered her head, closing her eyes. "We need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless," she told him. "Well, if the princess is that important, we'll find her," Jafar promised, before waving his hand and causing several Heartless to appear behind him. "Find Jasmine, and bring her to me," he ordered. Iago hopped of his shoulder and flew off, the Heartless following behind. Jafar began to walk away, but Maleficent warned him "Don't steep yourself in darkness too long. The Heartless consume the careless." Jafar laughed. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary," he told her. In the corner a young woman hid behind a vendor's stall, overhearing the conversation.
Another Keyhole has been sealed, and my both most and least favorite world is coming up! Stay on your carpet and wait for Agrabah!
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